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Last Monday, I had a gourmet Italian sandwich, chips, pickle, Sparkling Water, a Hershey’s kiss, handwritten note and a riddle for $10…Delivered. Yup, that’s right. I now have a new Monday ritual:
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I discovered a new vintage store in Miami today that opened three weeks ago, The Vintage Revenge (more on that in a coming Miami Monday) and spent my winter boot money on the most gorgeous vintage cashmere sweater, bracelet and blouse. Okay, okay…fine…you got me….I spent my winter boot money for the next three years on the most gorgeous vintage cashmere sweater, earrings, bracelet, blouse, dress and a handbag for good measure. But I need cute booties STAT…so now what? Well, I found these really cute gray Oxford booties on Old Navy on sale for $32.50. They come in gray and black and fit my pea sized confessions of a shopaholic budget. Score! Click on the pic to check them out.

Buying gifts for guys is always so hard…especially the men in my life. So strange to grow up in a fashion family (yup…my Dad owns a clothing company) and have male family members with no fashion sense. My brother is semi-hopeless and my husband has the exact same pattern and color shirt made by fancy brand imaginable. Imagine a closet full of $300 blue checked shirts…it is really kind of creepy.

This year I am going to force a little fashion on them and get them a gift card for a Skinny Fattie tie make-over. For $30 you get this cute gift card that allows you to send in a fat tie and have it converted to a skinny one. This could be a great two-part gift. You could get the gift card and go to a Thrift store and get a fat tie or even shop in your father, brother or significant other’s closet for a fat tie. I just love this concept…plus they are tailored in Brooklyn which ups the cool factor even more! Click on the photos to check them out….

**Disclaimer. I have worked with Skinny Fatties, but I have not been compensated for this post and I really LOVE the ties.

Who really wants to go look at a bunch of art this week? Really, who really, truly wants to look? Not me. I know that makes me sound shallow and not creative, but if it ain’t in a museum in Europe or an exhibition at the MET or the Guggenheim in New York, I probably don’t care. With that being said, Basel brings a great vibe to the city and if you can get past the parking nightmare and the traffic to the beach (may I recommend getting girlfriends together and hiring a driver!), there is some really fun stuff to do. My pick for the week…well my event of course. A sample sale this Friday at the fab Whitelaw Hotel on South Beach, Fashion 1st Fridays. What do you get? Well no art my friends…at least not in the traditional sense, but to me fashion is art and fashion at a discount is art at its finest!

If Art is what you are looking for, may I recommend this event on the pool deck of the Marquis downtown. I like this one cause you avoid the beach and design district traffic, but still get to feel like you are living in an episode of Gallery Girls…Bravo style with bling and a pool deck at the Marquis Residences….one of Miami’s chicest places to call home.

I just think this makes the most fab gift for office colleagues, assistants or any gal that you like but don’t know well enough to know her taste. Mr. and Mrs., a company that makes emergency kits has a fab holiday collection that is oh so cute and at $15 for each kit, it makes the perfect gift or stocking stuffer!

The Good Luck Series features rich, saturated patent pouches in ten on-trend colors: Cherry Red, Eggplant, Yellow, Periwinkle, Neon Pink, Black, Taupe, Cobalt Blue, Coral, and Green. Each bag is adorned with one of five good luck charms: a Chinese symbol of good fortune, a wishbone, an evil eye (to ward off wardrobe malfunctions), a horseshoe, and a four-leaf clover.

I feel like every year I am running behind on the holiday rush. No matter how hard I try to order my holiday cards in September (which seems wrong by the way) and do my Christmas shopping throughout the year, I still a race against that Christmas clock. This year I went on a family vacay after Thanksgiving and came home to a city full of decor and a home that is decidedly unfestive. I am super busy with my work getting clients ready for the holiday rush and preparing for the huge Art Basel Sample sale I am co-producing, so this year I needed to find some Shortcuts to Fabulous festive feel with in under an hour. Here are my tips for holiday decorating in a hurry on a budget:

Stick with a theme and simple color palette. I have had the same decor theme for years. Creme, Gold and Silver. It is clean, classic, timeless and can utilize many year round decor items. This makes shopping for holiday decor easier and gives you a little flexibility to be sloppy because monotone color themes are more forgiving.

Get a pre-lit artificial tree. We bought one a few years ago and it literally changed my life. I promise you wont miss stringing lights. If you are one of those people who has to have a “real tree” why not have your large tree artificial and get a small real tree…imagine how much easier clean up will be! This year, I strung large ribbon around the tree, added gold, silver and cream balls and tucked sparkly sprigs I found at a floral shop in the branches and called it a day. The tree looks great and it was done in under 45 minutes.

Get Festive with your Soaps. This year I am putting my bathrooms in the holiday spirit with nothing more than holiday themed fancy liquid soaps I got at Marshalls for $4.99. They are really elegant soaps and that is just enough to let the world know I am not a grinch.

Choose Simple Swaps. Find simple pieces in your decor that you can easily swap out for a holiday themed items. Switch your everyday candles to holiday candles that match your holiday decor color scheme, wall decor for holiday themed decor or better yet holiday photos. I frame all of our photograph holiday cards from the last five years and replace the painting over our electrical box with that collage during the holidays. You can find something to swap in every room in the house. In the kitchen find a nice ceramic holiday themed cookie jar and lay on the counter….voila…your kitchen is decorated.

Find simple sparkly little trees that require no decorating. I am super in love with the Confetti System Twist Open trees above from West Elm on sale for $13.99 and $19.99. They abstract spin on the classic evergreen, these glittering Confetti System Twist-Open Trees are not only decorative, they also have something to hide—untwist their tops to open, fill with candy, jewelry or other treats, then re-seal with a twist. Buy a few of these, group them on your buffet table with some candles and voila…instant Christmas.

Tie a bow around it. I have some wide rim wire ribbon in my holiday themed colors and I tie robin in a nice bow shape around everyday decor items I already have display to add a festive feel.

I love small indie designers and I found the adorable gold bracelet show below from Miami design team Nugaard a few weeks ago along with the splurge cuff below it (the photo doesn’t even begin to do it justice). I was able to see their entire collection and they have really amazing, quality pieces that are sure to remain treasures in your jewelry box. Check them out here.

This weekend I got a sneak peek viewing of the latest adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The movie was interesting, but I am not a fan of films without a super sappy happy ending. However, this is a must see movie…why you ask? THE CLOTHES. Kiera Knightly’s cloths and jewels were nothing short of amazing. If the costume designer from this film does not win an Oscar, she will be robbed. After the film, I felt compelled to find my own Anna Karenina inspired fashions and discovered Banana Republic has a whole collection inspired by the movie. Check it out here. Here are my fave Anna Kareninaesque looks at affordable prices: